Reels for supporting and storing flexible media come in many styles and sizes. In general, a typical reel includes two flanges and a core extending between the two flanges. The flexible media, which may suitably be wire, cable, rope, chain, hose or the like, is wound around the core and axially retained by the end flanges.
One common construction of reel consists of two flanges formed from molded plastic and a central core that is constructed of wood, metal, plastic, or paper. The flanges may be secured to the core using adhesives and/or fasteners, or may be secured to each other through the hollow core, with the core trapped between the two flanges. In the latter design, the flanges may be provided with a circular channel that is configured to receive the end of the core and hold the core in position. In this design, a long bolt secures the two flanges against the opposing ends of the core. A design of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,075.
An advantage of plastic flanges is that they may readily be formed using injection molding techniques. The use of injection molding for preparing reel flanges provides the advantage of enabling the inclusion of convenience features that would be difficult or expensive to implement if the flange could not be injection molded. For example, injection molding makes it easier to include arbor holes, drive holes, and other features in a flange. U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,075 shows how features used to help align stacked reels may be easily included in a molded flange. Such flange stack features would be difficult to include in a wooden, paper or metal flange, which must be cut, assembled and/or stamped.
In addition, molded plastic reels exhibit a good strength-to-cost ratio. To this end, molded plastic flanges can be designed to include support ribs that allow for the overall flange width to be relatively thin while retaining strength via the ribs.
While plastic flanges have many advantages over their wood and metal counterparts, a drawback to the use of molded plastic reels is the cost associated with tooling. Tooling a plastic molded flange requires expertise and expense. A large percentage of the cost of a reel flange is associated with the recovery of the tooling cost. There is always a need, therefore, for reducing the cost of tooling for molded reels.